Jacobs through to quarters

By: HELGE SCHUTZ

SEDI Jacobs overcame a shaky start to beat Dannielle du Plooy of South Africa 6-4, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the ITF South Central African Junior Championships at the Central Tennis Courts yesterday.

The top-seeded Jacobs struggled with her serve, hitting several double faults in the first set, which led to her opponent breaking her serve a few times. Luckily for Jacobs, Du Plooy didn’t fare much better as her serve was also erratic while her groundstrokes were inconsistent.
Jacobs recuperated in the second set as she wore her opponent down with strong groundstrokes to win the match in straight sets.
After the match Jacobs admitted that she was not at her best.
“I was not at my best but I had some good points and I managed to pull it through in the end. Hopefully it will go better tomorrow,” she said.
Jacobs said she was working on new tactics with her serve which could have contributed to the inconsistency in her serve.
“My coach is teaching me new things with my serve so I must still get used to it,” she said.
Jacobs, who has a world junior ranking of 182, is the top seed for the tournament and she admitted that the pressure got to her a bit.
“I definitely feel the pressure, also because I am playing on my home turf, but I just hope it goes better tomorrow,” she said.
Jacobs will face the sixth seed, Louis Ronaldson of Great Britain, in the quarterfinals this morning, after Ronaldson had a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 victory against Danica Brewer of South Africa.
Namibia’s Liniques Theron, who is the second seed for the tournament, had a comfortable 6-3, 6-0 victory against Vivien Klein of Germany. Theron will now meet the fifth seed, Louis Mare Botes of South Africa, who beat Tanaka Chakanyuka of Zimbabwe 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Another Namibian, Lize Elfrida Moolman, lost 6-2, 6-3 to the third-seeded Nicole Dzenga of Zimbabwe, who will now face Georgina Axon of Great Britain in the quarterfinals, after Axon beat Aayushree Narendra of India 6-0, 6-0.
The fourth-seeded Huibre Mare Botes of South Africa beat Divya Bhan of India 6-1, 6-3 and she will now meet Lindsay Truscott of South Africa in the quarterfinals.
In the U/18 boys’ singles competition, all the top-seeded players progressed to the quarterfinals.
The top-seeded Okkie Kellerman of South Africa beat compatriot Joshua Warren and he will now face another South African, Christiaan le Grange, who beat Innocent Tidimane of Botswana 6-4, 6-2.
Kellerman’s identical twin brother Francois Kellerman, who is the second seed for the tournament, progressed to the quarterfinals after beating compatriot Hubert Badenhorst in three sets, 7-5, 4-6, 6-0.
He will now meet another South African, Lloyd Harris, who beat Patrick Graham of Great Britain 6-0, 6-1.

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